Customer Reviews

Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 AF APO DG OS HSM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

5 star:		(76)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I am thrilled to have bought this lens to mount on my Nikon D80 after having read loads of reviews on the few options available like the Sigma 50-500 or the Nikon 135-400 and 80-400. I wanted the longest possible range below $1,500 in a recognizable Brand. I narrowed my choice to the 50-500 or this one. The Optical Stabilizer and the fact that Sigma had proven itself with the 50-500 were the determining factors in my decision. So far I shot some 200 pictures of various subjects at various distances handholding the camera with the OS turned on. Half way through my shots I reverted from full manual mode to Aperture control and noticed an improvement in the sharpness and colors which tells me that I need to hone my skills with this lens. So far, I am amazed at the quality of my shots with this huge glass. I take all my pictures with a -.7 exposure compensation as I like very vivid pictures and until I develop a better feel for what the lens can do I will continue to used it with Aperture control. The Autofocus is smooth, the overall feel is quality and the pictures are phenomenal for the distance. I look forward to plenty of fun with this lens, if you go for it you won't regret it.

UPDATE: In response to the person who rated this lens three stars I would like to quote David Bush's book "Nikon D80 Digital Field Guide" where he states "most lenses produce their sharpest image approximately two stops less than wide open. For example, if you're using a zoom lens with an f/4 maximum aperture, it probably has its best resolution and least distortion at roughly f/8". I've practiced David's suggestion with my Sigma 150-500 and it works beautifully, but like everything else, it takes some time to getting used to unless you're a professional photographer then you'd know this before hand. I added a few recent pictures shown above as part of this review.

I purchased my lens from B&H and it came in Sigma's black nylon zipped box which keeps the lens practically immobile. The box was very safely packaged when it arrived.

I just received this lens and made a test shot I've made with other lenses. I took a shot of a satellite dish over a half a block away. Handheld. Magnifying it with Photoshop not only can I see the 'Dish Network' clearly, but magnifying a little more I can read the 'TM' underneath the logo. Clear as a bell.

This lens is a vast improvement over the 170-500 model. I used that lens on a wildlife trip and had to jack up the ISO to 800-1600 to get decent shutter speeds and a clear picture. Unfortunately that introduced noise, really bad in some shots. The D300 is much better than the D200 in that regard, but the lens was pretty much unusable without a tripod. This lens will alleviate any of those problems.

I usually buy Nikon lenses. This and the Sigma earlier models including the 170-500 (which I had to buy for a trip and now I'm selling) are the only lenses I could find that gave a substantial difference over the Nikon 70-300 VR. The Nikon 80-400 VR is $[...] and focuses slowly, and you can pretty much just crop to achieve the 100mm difference (I tried it to be sure.)

I'm looking forward to using this with a 1.4 teleconverter, you lose autofocus and 1 stop, can only go down to 100mm but get a 35mm equivalent of 1050mm! For only $[...]!

The quality of the lens is very good. There is zero zoom creep. Autofocusing is fast, though just a tad off (a few pixels off on the 'TM' - could be the camera, and that can be adjusted.) Manual focusing is tricky with the tripod collar on, it blocks the focusing ring so either move your hand to the top, slide your hand in between the lens and collar, or take the collar off. I got perfect focus using the viewfinder indicator as a reference point. The finish is of high quality, but a little strange. The whole lens including the hood is coated in some kind of flat black matte textured finish, makes me think of a stealth bomber.

I did a lot of research to find this lens, and was waiting for it since it's introduction 2 or more months ago. There is just no Nikon equivalent without buying a f/4 400mm with a TC-17 for about $5000 or so. If Nikon had a lens at 500-600mm for not too bad of a price hit I would have bought it. After playing with this lens just a little bit I'm glad I bought it. I'm fiercely loyal to Nikon, and it's arguably a better product, but I can afford to buy this lens 5 times over if it breaks, and it also saves the whole price of 2 photography workshops/tours.

There will probably be a lot of testing and comparing of this lens. None of that matters to me as it passed the satellite dish test with flying colors, I didn't even know the TM was there before today.

Edit 3/16/09 - I recently bought the Sigma 1.4 teleconverter to go with this lens. The 1st time I really used the combo was during the adding of the spire to the Trump Tower in Chicago. I was on the 7th floor of a building 1-1/2 miles away measured by Google Maps. I could see the men waiting in the spire for the next section to arrive. I had to back way off on the lens to get the tower and the helicopter lowering the sections into the frame. I lost autofocus, but it was no big deal to focus manually visually or with the in-focus indicator. Unfortunately I had to shoot through a dirty window, and it was pretty hazy, so the shots aren't that great but I don't blame the lens, the shots are better than anybody else got.

Edit 3/18/10 - Added Trump Tower picture to product images.

Essentially, the Sigma 150-500 OS is an indirect answer to the Canon 100-400mm F4 IS L lens. The problem with most comparisons is that the Canon F4 costs significantly more.

The direct point is that the Canon does perform marginally better in every aspect. The Sigma clearly wins in cost-performance ratio but that also varies based on your intended use and preferences. The main difference is the 70%+ price in the lenses.

The Sigma 150-500 is *NOT* a substitute for a low-light high speed use telephoto lens such as F2.8 lenses. However, the 2.8 lenses are an apples to oranges comparison - comparing a 400mm 2.8 that costs several times more ($6500) and suited to a different purpose. The Sigma lens is suited more towards daytime wildlife as opposed to sports events in varying conditions or poor lighting in any situation.

The 150-500 has shortcomings compared to the more expensive lenses - which is typically the case for any brand. I still highly recommend the lens & have enjoyed 600+ pictures within 7 days of owning it. The lens is excellent for wildlife, a great "out-of-box" experience with accessories, and will serve most a long time.

+ Optics are outstanding considering the market price.
+ Less than $1000 USD as of this writing
+ 500mm without use of a teleconverter
- Not as sharp compared to the 50-500 Sigma but the 50-500 lacks OS/IS
+ Light build quality considering lens class
- Durability trade-off for lower weight. Sealing not optimal, housing uses plastic.
+ Aesthetics. Rubberized/tactile feel with a sleek dark gray body.
- Aesthetics/durability. Coating on body prone to marks/scratches.
- Stiff zoom ring takes effort to operate.
+ Durable OEM lens hood included
+ Solid OEM hard lens case included (in fact it is shipped in the case)
+ OEM Tripod collar included
+ Excellent industry warranty (3 years USA)
+ HSM motor quick but not the fastest.
- Seeks a bit for focus in less-than-optimal light a bit earlier than the Canon equivalents.
- Autofocus a bit more finicky than lens-class equivalents.
- OS certainly does not reach the claimed 4 stop benefit
+ OS obtains a clear 2 stop advantage
- Noisy OS
- Image appears to shake a bit in viewfinder w/ OS operating

A final note: Most lenses (except prime non-zoom lenses) are a bit soft at the widest aperture (f/5) - this Sigma included. I certainly do not dock a non-prime lens for this as others have.

Updated 10-13-2009

I pushed several hundred more pictures through the lens and I am still satisfied. I will note a few observations including those not associated with the lens performance.

The Sigma feels a bit loose on my 450D/XSi when mounted. This is pronounced when adjusting the zoom ring which is rather stiff. Research indicates this is normal due to manufacturing tolerances, especially concerning the lens release/lock pin on the body mount. This issue varies depending on the camera body and lens - thus not a Sigma issue per say. An associate w/ the Canon 100-400 F/4 L IS lens reports similar behavior on his camera body (40D) but not on other camera bodies. I can't fault Sigma for this issue and I doubt everyone experiences this.

I mentioned a stiff zoom ring but I wasn't concerned with this initially. I thought the same about my Canon 24-70 F/2.8 L lens when I first received it. However, the stiff zoom ring coupled with the slight camera body shift seems to amplify the annoyance. Buyers should be very aware of the stiff zoom ring which I had not originally mentioned.

86mm filters are rather expensive. Tiffen offers a $30 UV filter solution but my experience is that Tiffen are poor quality products. Admittedly, I'm using one for the moment but have not noticed any reflections/aberrations. An 86mm Hoya UV filter runs almost $100 which I will purchase at a later date. I would not recommend a polarizer due to the loss of light.

I have gone through several camera bags - swapping and storing the lens in the field is a task. I am currently using the Lowepro Flipside 300 but that tends to be a snug fit w/ body attached. I will likely purchase a Lowepro Stealth Reporter D400 AW to carry my flash, 24-70 L lens, Sigma, and other necessities. The lens measures almost 9.5 inches in length.

I was quite intrigued by the paper specifications and the other positive reviews. I used the lens on a Nikon D90 body and tried out some bird photography in late afternoon light. The lens build quality looks terrific and it has a very nice hood and case. Some of the problems I ran into were quality related and some just an artifact of a slow long lens. Auto-Focusing is reasonably fast. I got a lot of softness shooting the lens wide open (f6.3) at 500mm. You have to be very careful with focusing since the depth of field is extremely shallow (it's easy to misfocus on something ahead or behind the subject). The sharpness improved as I moved the aperture down to f/8 and smaller.

I also tried it with the OS (Optical Stabilization) Off (on a tripod) and On. For me personally, hand-holding below 1/200 seemed iffy. The OS was also very noisy and sounded unusual in that it was uneven. Further the unit continued to be noisy even after focus had been achieved and the shutter was half squeezed which I wasn't expecting. It takes a while to get used to the OS which seems to be different from Nikon. It takes a bit longer to kick in and you have to wait for this. This is probably something that takes a few days to pick up.

I've returned the lens since. I'm still intrigued enough to want to try out another one in case the problems I had were specific to the unit I had.

Bottom line, the lens build quality seems great and autofocusing is good. Expect some softness if you shoot wide open and long. You do have to make compromises getting a lens of this focal length at this price. The compromise is that most of your shooting will have to be on sunny days or with the ISO bumped up on cloudy days so you can shoot with smaller apertures and faster shutter speeds. Definitely worth a try.

I have only had this lens for a few days and I feel that this is the lens that was missing in my arsenal. I will try to update my review in future, but here are my ten cents:
- Heavy and huge but certainly handheld manageable
- Fast autofocus, OS is great and excellent image quality
- As expected requires a lot of light (tripod recommended for low lighting)
- Solid built and its color makes reminds me of the B-2 Bomber
- Nice hood
- Comes with a durable case and 2 straps
- Only 1 year warranty (why not 5 years)

This is my 1st non-Nikon lens and I am very pleased by it. Its zoom ring rotates in anti-clockwise direction for zooming in which I found a bit odd, but may be this is a Sigma thing.

So far, I am very impressed by it. I am considering getting 2x EX DG APO Tele Converter.

I like to do birding by walking around. For this my lens criteria are: longest focal length I can carry; image stabilization; high speed focus to catch birds in flight; no chromatic aberrations and excellent image quality. The closet Nikon gets is the 70-300mm VR AF-S lens which I used exclusively (until now).
I was on the fence about this Sigma lens until I saw bird images from the UK and Australia taken with a Canon 40D. So I bought the Nikon mount version and haven't looked back. My Nikon D300 has no problem autofocusing with this lens even though it's 6.3 aperture is smaller than the 5.6 Nikon recommends. It even works in all 3 focus modes which is probably more an attribute of the D300 than the lens.
I get birds over water and lakes I couldn't pull in at 300mm. In flight photos are sharp at 1/1250 sec. No visible chromatic aberation. OS works down to 1/250 sec at 500mm. It could be better but I haven't tried to push it more. I find best sharpness at f/8 - f/12. You can see bird images at Flickr (see member 'sbfledgling' sets and look for the lens in the title of 2 sets). You can click the 'slideshow' at upper right to see larger images. All photos were hand-held. Shooting data accompanies each image.
Mounted on the D300 the whole rig weighs about 6 pounds. It's a load to be sure but so far I manage.
I would recommend this lens to any user looking for a long range, hand-holdable, portable lens option.

I was drawn to try this lens by its size and its price/performance ratio. For under a grand it is a good deal for what you get (the build quality, nice lens case and a strap for the case and a strap for the lens itself, plus a decent lens hood), and adequately sharp when used correctly. I also own a Nikon/Nikkor 500 f/4, internal, manual-focus (the ED-IF "P" model) an older style lens but very good. I've taken hundreds of great images with this Nikkor lens over the years, but have missed others when I simply couldn't bring it along or get it mounted on a tripod fast enough....As much as I like the Nikkor, it is simply too large to take places I'd like to go with this focal length, backpacking in the mountains for example. And you cannot hand-hold it, you at least need a car door window to brace it on.

So I compare the Sigma's sharpness against the Nikon (which cost nearly 4 grand almost 20 years ago, current models with AF are a lot more now)...perhaps an unfair test but inquiring minds want to know...my results: The Sigma is softer wide open (f/6.3 at 500mm) than the Nikon is wide open (at f/4). BOTH are softer wide open than when stopped down 1 or 2 stops. However, I find the Sigma sharp enough by f/8 to suit me just fine, (easily comparable by then to the Nikkor at f/4 or 5.6 for sharpness) and I have shot images at f/7.1 and even wide open (f/6.3 at 500mm) that were perfectly useable for publication. We're talking maybe 5 or 10% less sharp when wide open...centered objects are often sharp enough wide open, but edges are perhaps less sharp at this setting. I think by f/9 or f/11 it's a close match to the Nikkor at any aperture. This was not a scientific test but I did shoot both lenses side by side, locked down on a big tripod, moving one camera from one lens to the other, and taking dozens of images (outdoors) to be sure of what I was seeing overall.

The selling point for me after all this is that I can take this lens places I cannot or do not wish to carry the big Nikkor, and I can hand-hold it; this means I can make photos with the long focal length that I would not have achieved at all, or only by leaving some other piece of gear behind so I could bring a big tripod to handle the Nikkor. I can now take a much smaller tripod, or none at all, as I have found the Optical Stabilization to be extremely effective. A simple example: a chipmunk scampering around rocks in my back yard. With the Sigma and no tripod, I was tracking this critter easily, shooting at 250 or 500th shutter speed HAND HELD at f/7.1 or f/8 and getting good images anyone would publish...if they needed a chipmunk photo. If I'd been using the Nikon 500mm, I'd still be setting up the tripod while the chipmunk had come and gone. Another bonus is that the Sigma focuses much closer than the Nikon 500mm, so it'll be great for birds or similar situations.

I will try to update this review as I learn more good or bad; haven't had the lens for long as yet but so far I like it a lot. Shoot stopped down to f/8 when possible; this isn't as hard to do with the OS system and current cameras which will allow you to boost ISO levels. Yes this is a compromise but it's one I'm willing to work with in order to have this focal length (as well as the rest of the range down to 150mm) available more of the time in my work.

The autofocus is perhaps a little slow (Nikon D90) or it is "hunting" at times, probably due to the small max aperture. But it's not bad especially for a big lens like this one. I've not been bothered by the OS "noise" at all, as reported by other reviewers.

One tip: if you find the zoom ring a bit stiff, for fastest zoom action you can just pull or push on the front part of the lens; it will zoom easily that way and it seems to put no stress on the mechanism. It's far easier to make the lens move/zoom this way than by turning the zoom ring, though I do still use the zoom ring most of the time.

I am an amateur bird photographer in the San Diego area. I puchased a Nikon D60 with the Nikkor 55-200mm VR. After a short while it was obvious that the 200mm wasn't going to cut it for bird photography.

I recently purchased the Sigma 150-500 and I am thrilled at it's performance so far.

Tripod mounted, the lens is fantastic of course. Panning with a ball head, following birds in flight over the lake, produce some great images. The OS has two modes, the first of which is great for tripod panning, reducing horizontal blur.

With the incorporation of OS (Optical Stabilization) this lens is more than capable hand-held. Switched to the second mode, the OS will reduce vertical image blur. I have been able to track flying hawks at 500mm, with amazing clarity. I am very impressed with the hand-held images I am able to get.

The auto-focus is not the fastest on this lens, but has been acceptable for in-flight bird shots that require quick changes in focus.

When it comes to nature photography, the zoom is a must. While following birds, I often go from 200mm all the way out to 500mm and back again, chasing them around the sky. A dedicated telephoto, without zoom, will of course provide better image quality, but at the price of limited focal length versatility. This lens provides a great balance for photographing wildlife.

Overall I have been impressed by the quality of this affordable super-telephoto lens. Compared to the more expensive options, this lens is also very light, making it perfect for a nature photographer on the move.

Enjoy

I bought this lens because I like to shoot photos at airshows. Shooting small fast moving planes at great distances is a challenge. This lens makes it much easier. The Optical stabilization is perfect. Sigma goes farther than Nikon in their stabilization. I have used Nikon VR lenses and did not get the greatest results when panning. Sigma solved that problem. The lens is sharp at both ends of the zoom, which is impressive. The focus is incredibly fast. Mated with my Nikon D300, this lens is producing amazing images.

I resently purchased this lens after reading a very postive review in Popular Photogaphy Magazine. I have been using it extensively for coverage of high school soccer, hockey,and football, and it has performed flawlessly. It has exceed all expectations and has become my favorite lens for shooting daytime sports. Each and every photo I've taken is tack sharp at all focal lengths. There is no perfect lens on the market today, but this one comes pretty darn close! I would highly recommend this lens to anyone involved in sports or nature photography.